The Menacing Hat Pin

The young woman walked hurriedly along the dimly-lit street near Zeehan in Tasmania, because she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, but a masked man pulled her into the scrub and attempted to assault her.  Only 21, she bravely fought him off with her hat pin, which snapped in her hand.  Luckily, her sister and brother lived nearby.  They heard her cries for help, and they raced to her rescue, so the man ran away.

This incident occurred in 1913.  It is just one of the many cases in which women defended themselves against attacks with their long and sharp hat pins.  Unfortunately, women may have found this difficult after a fracas arose in countries all over the world about the menace of hat pins in public places.  Several people were injured by hat pins, which could be up to 14 inches long.  Even the Australian Federal Attorney-General was injured by a protruding hat pin in 1912 under his eye, and this caused a long gash on his face.

Byelaws were passed by councils in cities worldwide, including Sydney.  Fines were issued to women who refused to place protectors on their long and fashionable hat pins.  Hat pins were actually taken away from suffragettes who went to jail in Britain, in case they used them as weapons.

Authorities in Stockholm in Sweden solved this problem in an innovative way.  Conductors of street-cars in the city offered ladies with menacing hat pins point-protectors at a cheap price.  6000 were sold out in a single day!

Saharet

Read about The Beautiful Australian Dancer, Saharet.

An Intrepid Australian Titanic Survivor

Titanic Memorial Voyage

Imagine the scene.  You're in a crowded lifeboat with no lantern, water, or provisions on a freezing night.  Shots are ringing out all around you, and men and women are fighting with each other to get on the lifeboat, which is already full.  You can see the Titanic sinking. This terrifying scenario happened to Charles Dahl, an Australian survivor of the Titanic.

Born in Norway in 1866, Dahl was one of eight children.  He emigrated to Australia in his twenties to work as a joiner, and lived in South Australia.  Dahl decided to return to Norway, but he changed his mind, and chose to visit his mother and some of his family in South Dakota instead.  He joined the Titanic as a third-class passenger on the way to South Dakota.




On the day of the crash, the sight of rows of icebergs worried Dahl.  He counted nineteen.  One was five miles long, he said.  He stated that no ship could cut a path through the sea, because it was 'full of icebergs'.

However, Dahl was in bed when the crash occurred.  He put on warm clothes, and raced to the deck, but he was surprised to find that he was in one of the lifeboats later.  He said that he must have jumped into it.  His whole fortune was in a wallet on board the sinking ship.

After visiting his mother and family, Dahl travelled for two years.  He returned to Norway and married a Norwegian lady.  They then moved to Australia.  Dahl died at 76 in 1933.

Hello everyone,
I'm having a bad time at the moment, but I hope to write a new post soon.

Oscar Hammerstein's Beautiful and Successful Australian Wife, Dorothy

This isn't an Edwardian story, but I couldn't resist it.  I was astonished to learn that Oscar Hammerstein II, the famous lyricist and librettist who wrote such musicals as South Pacific and The Sound of Music with Richard Rodgers, married an Australian!

Born in Tasmania in 1899, Dorothy Blanchard was brought up in Williamstown in Victoria.  The daughter of a ship's captain, she lived a comfortable life at a house called Mandalay with her four sisters.  As a young girl, she loved to wander around the quaint shops in the town, including an antique shop.

At just 23, Dorothy won a beauty pageant and decided that she wanted a career in the movies.  The intrepid young woman set out for London, but she eventually lived in America.  There she won a part in a musical called 'Charlot's Revue'. She married Henry Jacobson in 1925, and she had two children.  However, she fell in love with the unhappily married Oscar Hammerstein II on a cruise, and they married in 1929.  This marriage was supremely happy, and they had a son, James. They lived in a six-story New York townhouse full of servants, a very different life from her life in Australia.

Dorothy was not only beautiful and married to a famous man; she also had her own highly-regarded career.  She became a sought-after interior designer, and furnished houses for many stars, including Norma Talmadge.  She said on a visit to Australia that: 'She was crazy for colour'. The successful interior designer also remarked that young people should be surrounded by colour, and not live like their grandparents.  One wonders if the antique shop with its 'dim,  mysterious recesses' that continuously fascinated her influenced her decision to become an interior designer.

 Dorothy Hammerstein's Obituary in The New York Times described her as 'formidable', but Christopher Plummer thought that she was a 'lovely and warm Australian lady'. (Maybe he didn't find her formidable, because he is formidable!) She died in 1987.  Her grandson, Andy, is extremely interested in her story, and he visited her old house when he came to Australia recently.



Dorothy is third from the left.


Here is a beautiful picture of the couple on their wedding day.

Unfortunately, the present owner of the heritage-listed house is having trouble maintaining it: Historic House Alive With The Sound Of Crumbling

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New Post Soon!

I am really sorry that I haven't posted for so long.  I hope to write a new post next week.